[THE INVESTOR] Doosan Bobcat, a Korean construction equipment maker, said on June 5 it is aiming for a market share of over 10 percent in India’s backhoe loader market by 2024.

Last month, Doosan Bobcat completed the process of acquiring a backhoe loader production facility in India from John Deere, a US heavy equipment company. The 8,000-unit-a-year plant had been idled before it was taken over by the Korean company, a company spokesman said over the phone.

The company didn’t disclose the acquisition price.

Doosan Bobcat plans to produce backhoe loaders at the plant from the second half of 2019 to lure local customers, the company said in a statement.

India’s small construction equipment market is worth 1.3 trillion won (US$1.20 billion), ranking third after the United States and China. In particular, backhoe loaders account for 80 to 90 percent of India’s small construction market, it said.

Doosan Bobcat is 55 percent owned by Doosan Infracore, a construction equipment affiliate of Doosan Group.

By Song Seung-hyun and newswires (ssh@heraldcorp.com)